Point: Every student at UNL knows how much of a hassle the bookstore wait can be at the start of each semester. Students are sometimes expected to wait upwards of 30 minutes as they meander through the line. This feeling of dread that students feel is often exacerbated when they look over to see that the athletes-only line is only two people long.

While it is true that athletes on campus have very busy schedules, it is not unreasonable to expect them to spend 30 minutes of their week with the rest of the student body to get their books. The current arrangement establishes a double standard in which student-athletes are placed unnecessarily on a pedestal.

Having everyone wait in the same bookstore line would result in less tension between students and lead to a more satisfactory bookstore experience for the student body.

Counterpoint: Every semester I have to wait through the 30-minute long bookstore line pains me, but it is nothing compared to the pain that I feel when I look over at the athlete-only line and only see one register open.

It’s high time this university started treating our student-athletes with a little respect and stopped clogging up their days waiting for books. At a bare minimum, we should be looking at five athlete-only lines from open to close.

It is shameful that as a top-rate university, we allow our star athletes to wait in lines that can sometimes get up to five minutes long. How can we expect our teams to compete at the highest levels when the players are stuck mingling with the non-athletic people on campus for minutes at a time. Who can say what habits they’re picking up?

Now that Chancellor Green has had some time to settle in, I hope to see him make serious in-roads on this hot-button issue.